Vodafone India, ICICI Bank Launch M-Pesa in India

Vodafone India and ICICI Bank have formed a partnership in a move to launch MPesa in India by the end of 2012. The initiative was announced on Thursday by Marten Pieters, Vodafone India managing director and the ICICI Bank managing director Chanda Kochhar. According to Pieters MPesa will offer basic financial services to people who are beyond reach of traditional banking services. Mr. Kocchar hopes that MPesa will help the Indian nation achieve greater levels of financial inclusion.

The Vodafone India-ICICI Bank partnership plan to launch the mobile payment service through ICICI Bank and Mobile Commerce Solutions Limited (MCSL), a Vodafone India subsidiary. The service will include a mobile money account with ICICI Bank and an MCSL-issued Mobile Wallet.

With the service being launched in India, customers will be able to make cash deposits and withdrawals from designated outlets, perform mobile money transfer to any mobile phone or bank account, and perform cash transactions through MPesa. The initial launch will be in West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand. Subsequently it will be rolled out in phases to other parts of the country.